On the web: Google‘s commemorative doodle features Edith Head in the foreground, with sketches of some of her more famous designs behind her
Google has created a special Google Doodle searchbar logo in her honor.
Head, who passed away in 1981, has won the most Oscars (eight) out of any woman in film history. She carried over 40 Academy Award nominations in the course of her career.
EDITH HEAD, was one of Hollywood’s most legendary costume designers, she won 8 Oscar Awards
In 1924, despite lacking art, design, and costume design experience, Head was hired as a costume sketch artist at Paramount Pictures in the costume department. Later she admitted to borrowing another student’s sketches for her job interview
. She began designing costumes for silent films, commencing with The Wanderer in 1925 and, by the 1930s, had established herself as one of Hollywood’s leading costume designers.
She worked at Paramount for 43 years until she went to Universal Pictures on March 27, 1967, possibly prompted by her extensive work for director Alfred Hitchcock, who moved to Universal, in 1960.
In 1967, she left Paramount Pictures and joined Universal Pictures, where she remained until her death in 1981. As studio-based feature film production declined and many of her favored stars retired,
Head became more active as a television costume designer, often designing outfits for film actors, such as Olivia De Havilland, who were now involved in television series or film work. In 1974, Head received a final Oscar win for her work on The Sting.
During the late 1970s, Edith Head was asked to design a woman’s uniform for the United States Coast Guard, because of the increasing number of women in the Coast Guard. Head called the assignment a highlight in her career and received the Meritorious Public Service Award for her efforts
Her designs for a TV mini-series based on the novel Little Women were well received. Her last film project was the black-and-white comedy Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, starring Steve Martin and Carl Reiner. For the production, she re-created fashions of the 1940s, extensively referencing the film clips from classic film noir motion pictures. It was released shortly after her death and dedicated to her memory.
Head won eight Oscars for her costumes – the most Academy Awards ever won by a woman. She created the wardrobe for celebrated films, such as Funny Face, Sabrina, Roman Holiday, Carrie, All About Eve and To Catch A Thief – and dressed some of cinema’s most glamorous stars, from Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly to Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren.
Head – who was brn in California in 1897 – started her career as a French teacher, before being hired as costume sketch artist for Paramount Pictures – borrowing a friend’s sketches to help land her the job. She worked at Paramount for 43 years until she joined Universal in 1967. She died of bone marrow disease, aged 83, on October 24, 1981.
It is thought that Head was the inspiration for the part of superhero costume designer Edna Mode in 2004 children’s film The Incredibles – although this was never confirmed by its director, Brad Bird.
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